- Simplification of inspections and formalities in respect of the carriage of goods;
- Support for the introduction of modern customs information systems;
- The organization of seminars and training periods.
Technical assistance shall be provided where necessary.
3. Without prejudice to further cooperation foreseen in this Agreement and in particular Articles 72 and 74, mutual assistance in customs matters between administrative authorities of the Parties shall take place in accordance with the provisions of the Protocol attached to this Agreement.
Article 68. Statistical Cooperation
Cooperation in this area shall have as its aim the development of an efficient statistical system to provide the reliable statistics needed to support and monitor the process of economic reform and contribute to the development of private enterprise in Georgia.
The Parties, in particular, shall cooperate in the following fields:
- Adaptation of the Georgian statistical system to international methods, standards and classification;
- Exchange of statistical information;
- Provision of necessary statistical macro-and microeconomic information to implement and manage economic reforms.
The Community shall contribute to this end by rendering technical assistance to Georgia.
Article 69. Economics
The Parties shall facilitate the process of economic reform and the coordination of economic policies by cooperating to improve understanding of the fundamentals of their respective economies and the design and implementation of economic policy in market economies. To this end, the Parties shall exchange information on macroeconomic performance and prospects.
The Community shall provide technical assistance so as to:
- Assist Georgia in the process of economic reform by providing expert advisory and technical assistance;
- Encourage cooperation among economists in order to expedite the transfer of know-how for the drafting of economic policies, and provide for wide dissemination of policy-relevant research.
Article 70. Monetary Policy
At the request of the Georgian authorities, the Community shall provide technical assistance designed to support the efforts of Georgia towards the strengthening of its monetary system and the introduction of full convertibility of the currency.
This will include technical assistance for the design and application of Georgia's monetary and credit policy, in full coordination with the international financial institutions, for the training of personnel, and for the development of financial markets, including the stock exchange. It shall also include informal exchanges of views concerning the principles and the functioning of the European Monetary System and Community regulations on financial markets and capital movements.
Article 71.
The Parties shall cooperate on all questions relevant to the establishment or reinforcement of democratic institutions, including those required in order to strengthen the rule of law, and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms according to international law and OSCE principles.
This cooperation shall take the form of technical assistance programmes intended to assist, inter alia, in the drafting of relevant legislation and regulations; the implementation of such legislation; the functioning of the judiciary; the role of the State in questions of justice; and the operation of the electoral system. They may include training where appropriate. The Parties shall encourage contacts and exchanges between their national, regional and judicial authorities, parliamentarians, and non-governmental organizations.
Article 72.
The Parties shall establish cooperation aimed at preventing illegal activities such as:
- Illegal activities in the sphere of economics, including corruption;
- Illegal transactions of various goods, including industrial waste;
- Counterfeiting.
Cooperation in the abovementioned areas will be based on mutual consultation and close interaction. Technical and administrative assistance may be provided, including in the following areas:
- Drafting of national legislation in the sphere of preventing illegal activities;
- Creation of information centres;
- Increasing the efficiency of institutions engaged in preventing illegal activities;
- Training of personnel and development of research infrastructures;
- Elaboration of mutually acceptable measures impeding illegal activities.
Article 73. Money Laundering
1. The Parties agree on the necessity of making efforts and cooperating in order to prevent the use of their financial systems for laundering of proceeds from criminal activities in general and drug offences in particular.
2. Cooperation in this area shall include administrative and technical assistance with the purpose of establishing suitable standards against money laundering equivalent to those adopted by the Community and international fora in this field, including the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Article 74. Drugs
Within the framework of their respective powers and competencies the Parties shall cooperate in increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of policies and measures to counter the illicit production, supply and traffic of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, including the prevention of diversion of precursor chemicals, as well as in promoting drug demand prevention and reduction. The cooperation in this area shall be based on mutual consultation and close coordination between the Parties over the objectives and measures on the various drug-related fields.
Article 75. Illegal Immigration
1. The Member States and Georgia agree to cooperate in order to prevent and control illegal immigration. To this end:
- Georgia agrees to readmit any of its nationals illegally present on the territory of a Member State, upon request by the latter and without further formalities; and
- Each Member State agrees to readmit any of its nationals, as defined for community purposes, illegally present on the territory of Georgia, upon request by the latter and without further formalities.
The Member States and Georgia will also provide their nationals with appropriate identity documents for such purposes.
2. Georgia agrees to conclude bilateral agreements with Member States which so request, regulating specific obligations for readmission including an obligation for the readmission of nationals of other countries and stateless persons who have arrived on the territory of any such Member State from Georgia or who have arrived on the territory of Georgia from any such Member State.
3. The Cooperation Council shall examine what other joint efforts can be made to prevent and control illegal immigration.
Article 76.
The Parties undertake to promote, encourage and facilitate cultural cooperation. Where appropriate, the Community's cultural cooperation programmes or those of one or more Member States may be the subject of cooperation and further activities of mutual interest may be developed.
The cooperation may include:
- Exchange of information and experience in the field of conservation and protection of monuments, sites (architectural heritage) and museum values;
- Cultural exchange between institutions, artists and other persons working in the area of culture;
- Translation of literary works.
Article 77.
In order to achieve the objectives of this Agreement and in accordance with Articles 78, 79 and 80, Georgia shall benefit from temporary financial assistance from the Community by way of technical assistance in the form of grants. The purpose of this assistance shall be to accelerate the economic transformation of Georgia.
Article 78.
This financial assistance shall be covered within the framework of Tacis as foreseen in the Community's relevant Council Regulation.
Article 79.
The objectives and the areas of the Community's financial assistance shall be laid down in an indicative programme reflecting established priorities to be agreed between the two Parties taking into account Georgia's needs, sectoral absorption capacities and progress with reform. The Parties shall inform the Cooperation Council thereof.
Article 80.
In order to permit optimum use of the resources available, the Parties shall ensure that Community technical assistance contributions are made in close coordination with those from other sources such as the Member States, other countries, and international organizations such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Article 81.
A Cooperation Council is hereby established which shall supervise the implementation of this Agreement. It shall meet at ministerial level once a year. It shall examine any major issues arising within the framework of this Agreement and any other bilateral or international issues of mutual interest for the purpose of attaining the objectives of this Agreement. The Cooperation Council may also make appropriate recommendations, by agreement between the two Parties.
Article 82.
1. The Cooperation Council shall consist of the members of the Council of the European Union and members of the Commission of the European Communities, on the one hand, and of members of the Government of Georgia, on the other.
2. The Cooperation Council shall establish its rules of procedure.
3. The office of President of the Cooperation Council shall be held alternately by a representative of the Community and by a member of the Government of Georgia.
Article 83.
1. The Cooperation Council shall be assisted in the performance of its duties by a Cooperation Committee composed of representatives of the members of the Council of the European Union and of members of the Commission of the European Communities on the one hand and of representatives of the Government of Georgia on the other, normally at senior civil servant level. The office of President of the Cooperation Committee shall be held alternately by the Community and by Georgia.
In its rules of procedure the Cooperation Council shall determine the duties of the Cooperation Committee, which shall include the preparation of meetings of the Cooperation Council, and how the Committee shall function.
2. The Cooperation Council may delegate any of its powers to the Cooperation Committee, which will ensure continuity between meetings of the Cooperation Council.
Article 84.
The Cooperation Council may decide to set up any other special committee or body that can assist it in carrying out its duties and shall determine the composition and duties of such committees or bodies and how they shall function.
Article 85.
When examining any issue arising within the framework of this Agreement in relation to a provision referring to an Article of the GATT/WTO, the Cooperation Council shall take into account to the greatest extent possible the interpretation that is generally given to the Article of the GATT/WTO in question by the Members of the WTO.
Article 86.
A Parliamentary Cooperation Committee is hereby established. It shall be a forum for Members of the Georgian Parliament and the European Parliament to meet and exchange views. It shall meet at intervals which it shall itself determine.
Article 87.
1. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall consist of members of the European Parliament, on the one hand, and of Members of the Georgian Parliament, on the other.
2. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall establish its rules of procedure.
3. The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall be presided in turn by the European Parliament and the Georgian Parliament respectively, in accordance with the provisions to be laid down in its rules of procedure.
Article 88.
The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee may request relevant information regarding the implementation of this Agreement from the Cooperation Council, which shall then supply the Committee with the requested information.
The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee shall be informed of the recommendations of the Cooperation Council.
The Parliamentary Cooperation Committee may make recommendations to the Cooperation Council.
Article 89.
1. Within the scope of this Agreement, each Party undertakes to ensure that natural and legal persons of the other Party have access free of discrimination in relation to its own nationals to the competent courts and administrative organs of the Parties to defend their individual rights and their property rights, including those concerning intellectual, industrial and commercial property.
2. Within the limits of their respective powers and competences, the Parties:
- Shall encourage the adoption of arbitration for the settlement of disputes arising out of commercial and cooperation transactions concluded by economic operators of the Community and those of Georgia;
- Agree that where a dispute is submitted to arbitration, each party to the dispute may, except where the rules of the arbitration centre chosen by the parties provide otherwise, choose its own arbitrator, irrespective of his nationality, and that the presiding third arbitrator or the sole arbitrator may be a citizen of a third State;
- Will recommend their economic operators to choose by mutual consent the law applicable to their contracts;
- Shall encourage recourse to the arbitration rules elaborated by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (Uncitral) and to arbitration by any centre of a State signatory to the Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards done at New York on 10 June 1958.
Article 90.
Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent a Party from taking any measures:
(a) which it considers necessary to prevent the disclosure of information contrary to its essential security interests;
(b) which relate to the production of, or trade in arms, munitions or war materials or to research, development or production indispensable for defence purposes, provided that such measures do not impair the conditions of competition in respect of products not intended for specifically military purposes;
(c) which it considers essential to its own security in the event of serious internal disturbances affecting the maintenance of law and order, in time of war or serious international tension constituting threat of war or in order to carry out obligations it has accepted for the purpose of maintaining peace and international security;
(d) which it considers necessary to respect its international obligations and commitments in the control of dual use industrial goods and technology.
Article 91.
1. In the fields covered by this Agreement and without prejudice to any special provisions contained therein:
- The arrangements applied by Georgia in respect of the Community shall not give rise to any discrimination between the Member States, their nationals or their companies or firms;
- The arrangements applied by the Community in respect of Georgia shall not give rise to any discrimination between Georgian nationals, or its companies or firms.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 are without prejudice to the right of the Parties to apply the relevant provisions of their fiscal legislation to tax payers who are not in identical situations as regards their place of residence.
Article 92.
1. Each of the two Parties may refer to the Cooperation Council any dispute relating to the application or interpretation of this Agreement.
2. The Cooperation Council may settle the dispute by means of a recommendation.
3. In the event of it not being possible to settle the dispute in accordance with paragraph 2, either Party may notify the other of the appointment of a conciliator; the other Party must then appoint a second arbitrator within two months. For the application of this procedure, the Community and the Member States shall be deemed to be one Party to the dispute.
The Cooperation Council shall appoint a third conciliator.
The conciliators' recommendations shall be taken by majority vote. Such recommendations shall not be binding upon the Parties.
4. The Cooperation Council may establish rules of procedure for dispute settlement.
Article 93.
The Parties agree to consult promptly through appropriate channels at the request of either Party to discuss any matter concerning the interpretation or implementation of this Agreement and other relevant aspects of the relations between the Parties.
The provisions of this Article shall in no way affect and are without prejudice to Articles 14, 92 and 98.
Article 94.
Treatment granted to Georgia thereunder shall in no case be more favourable than that granted by the Member States to each other.
Article 95.
For the purposes of this Agreement, the term "Parties" shall mean Georgia on the one part, and the Community, or the Member States, or the Community and the Member States, in accordance with their respective powers, on the other part.
Article 96.
Insofar as matters covered by this Agreement are covered by the Energy Charter Treaty and Protocols thereto, such Treaty and Protocols shall upon entry into force apply to such matters but only to the extent that such application is provided for therein.
Article 97.
This Agreement is concluded for an initial period of ten years. This Agreement shall be automatically renewed year by year provided that neither Party gives the other Party written notice of denunciation of this Agreement six months before it expires.
Article 98.
1. The Parties shall take any general or specific measures required to fulfil their obligations under this Agreement. They shall see to it that the objectives set out in this Agreement are attained.
2. If either Party considers that the other Party has failed to fulfil an obligation under this Agreement, it may take appropriate measures. Before so doing, except in cases of special urgency, it shall supply the Cooperation Council with all relevant information required for a thorough examination of the situation with a view to seeking a solution acceptable to the Parties.
In the selection of these measures, priority must be given to those which least disturb the functioning of this Agreement. These measures shall be notified immediately to the Cooperation Council if the other Party so requests.
Article 99.
Annexes I, II, III, IV and V together with the Protocol shall form an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 100.
This Agreement shall not, until equivalent rights for individuals and economic operators have been achieved thereunder, affect rights assured to them through existing Agreements binding one or more Member States, on the one hand, and Georgia, on the other, except in areas falling within Community competence and without prejudice to the obligations of Member States resulting from this Agreement in areas falling within their competence.
Article 101.
This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which the Treaties establishing the European Community, the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community are applied and under the conditions laid down in those Treaties and, on the other hand, to the territory of Georgia.
Article 102.
The Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union shall be the depository of this Agreement.
Article 103.
The original of this Agreement of which the Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Georgian languages, are equally authentic, shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union.
Article 104.
This Agreement will be approved by the Parties in accordance with their own procedures.
This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the Parties notify the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union that the procedures referred to in the first paragraph have been completed.
Upon its entry into force, and as far as relations between Georgia and the Community are concerned, this Agreement shall replace the Agreement between the European Economic Community, the European Atomic Energy Community and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on trade and economic and commercial cooperation signed in Brussels on 18 December 1989.
Article 105.
In the event that, pending the completion of the procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement, the provisions of certain parts of this Agreement are put into effect by means of an Interim Agreement between the Community and Georgia, the Parties agree that, in such circumstances, the term "date of entry into force of this Agreement" shall mean the date of entry into force of the Interim Agreement.
Conclusion
Done at Luxembourg on the twenty-second day of April in the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-six.
FOR THE KINGDOM OF BELGIUM,
FOR THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK,
FOR THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY,
FOR THE HELLENIC REPUBLIC,
FOR THE KINGDOM OF SPAIN,
FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,
FOR IRELAND,
FOR THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC,